Cat's Out of the Bag
by Velgamidragon
Summary: "I've finally figured you out, Alice." "Hm?" she asked with a glance to her companion. Neko tilted his head and smiled, "You're like a cat. You'll withhold your affection until a guy has proven himself to be worthy of it in your eyes."


**Author's Note: Yes, something new for yet _another_ anime. I finished Okamisan and Her Seven Companions yesterday (it's only 12 episodes, so it's a short one), and so my first response was to go look to see what I could find and thus discovered just how small the fanbase was. And of _course_, that meant there was nothing to be found of my OTP (which is total crack btw), AlicexNeko. Nekomiya may have only been in three episodes (two where we actually knew him as a character and not as background), but he made quite an impression on me, and I find Alice to be just darling. Even though these two didn't even share one scene together, much less any personal interaction, I think they've got some great potential and I've got plenty of reasons to support this opinion too.**

**Disclaimer: I am not responsible for the creation of any of these characters or universe; I am merely playing around in this artistic sandbox, but the idea for this is mine entirely.**

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Cat's Out of the Bag

"I've finally figured you out, Alice."

"Hm?" the purple-haired young woman glanced over at her companion. Figured her out? What did he mean by that? If there was something Neko had wanted to know about her, he could have just asked and she would have told him. Maybe. Some questions just shouldn't be answered, but those kinds of questions were more like things that her cousin, Liszt, would ask a girl, not Saburo Nekomiya

Neko tilted his head a little and his smile widened as he gazed at her with those yellow-green eyes of his, "I've figured it out. You're like a cat."

This coming from the guy who styled his hair to make it look like he had flattened cat ears. But seriously, where did that come from? And how did he draw that particular conclusion about _he_r?

"Oh really?" Alice asked with a dry smile. She would humor him.

"Yes!" Neko said with certainty, "You may work as diligently as an ant, but in general, you act more like a cat. When giving commands, people follow them instantly the same way that people obey cats when they demand for things. If someone annoys you, you put them back in line either verbally or physically, much like a cat would swat or growl at a nuisance. You're very tidy and organized, and I needn't explain how _that_ is a character trait of cats. However, the..."

Neko suddenly paused and turned away from her, staring at his feet and pulling his hat very low to cover his face. The only part of his face Alice could see was his mouth.

"The biggest reason why I say you're like a cat has nothing to do with those things," Neko admitted quietly and Alice wondered what happened to all that spirit and fire from just a few seconds ago. "You only have a couple of close friends, one of which is your cousin, and you've never had a boyfriend."

It was true and she wasn't surprised that Neko knew that much. He was very well-informed on facts, same as her, but still... it was embarrassing all the same to hear it spoken in the open air like that.

"Cats are rather fickle creatures. People don't choose cats, cats choose them. They decide who they want to take care of them and have their attention which is quite the opposite of dogs who don't care _who_ gives them attention just so long as _someone_ does. You're like that too, Alice. You only spare your attention to a select few, your friends, and..." he lowered his hat even further down his brow and she was _only_ ninety percent sure that he was blushing, "you've never had a boyfriend because you're waiting for him. Like a cat, you'll withhold your affection until a guy has proven himself to be worthy of it in your eyes."

Alice couldn't even move, she was so stunned. She wanted to denounce him; call him out and tell him how completely inaccurate he was in his judgment of her, but she couldn't utter a sound. There was a ring of truth to his words that part of her agreed with. It was something that she had subconsciously known, but never spoken, and it was _certainly_ something she'd never wanted to hear from anyone else either. She felt exposed and she couldn't look at him. Her blue eyes shifted worriedly behind her glasses and her thoughts were frantic. What else did he know? What else had he figured out about her?

"I'm sorry," Neko said and completely interrupted Alice's thoughts. She looked back at him curiously. "Perhaps, it would have been better if I hadn't said anything," Neko added as he moved to stand up, but a hand on his knee stopped him and he looked over to see Alice staring at him intently.

"You'd have to have been watching me quite closely to have come to such a conclusion," she said. There was no suspicion in her tone and he sensed no anger emanating from her. She was simply being rational.

"Well, I have," Neko admitted lamely, avoiding her piercing stare. Really now, what else could he have said? Such a question didn't leave much room for variation in response.

"Look at me."

He complied and his yellow-green eyes met her bright blue irises. She stared into his eyes and was silent for so long, but he did not dare turn away. Then she frowned in curious wonder and his eyebrows shot up questioningly.

"You like me, don't you?" she asked him.

Neko's eyes widened, "Ah...! Well, uh... that is, I..." her gaze upon him never lessened and he finally lowered his head in embarrassment and mumbled out a 'yes'.

He felt his hat being moved and looked up just as Alice pulled it completely off his head and set it down on the ground beside them. She was smiling at him and her eyes softened when she laid her hand upon his left cheek, her fingers brushing a few strands of his maroon hair near his ear.

"I don't know if I would call this love, but I like you too, Neko. So what do you say? Do you want to give this a try and see how it works out?" Alice asked him with a gentle tilt of her head.

Neko gave a wide, brilliant smile, "I'd love to. But if we do, you have to call me by my first name, deal?"

"Alright, Saburo. Deal," Alice said with a nod, and kissed him on the cheek instead of shaking his hand. Somehow, she didn't think Neko minded too much.

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_I had originally wanted to do something a little more detailed, but I had to write something **fast** and the summary for this just wouldn't leave me alone (yes, I had a summary long before I actually had any content written). Maybe I'll write something longer for these two at a later date, but for now, I'm just happy that I have SOMEthing up on the Internet for these two (it doesn't help that the fanbase is sooo tiny either! I would absolutely love it if I could just find one good AMV and one good piece of fanart for these two, but it's not likely). Ah, Alice is a tricky young woman to work with, especially when she's not doing tech work or berating her cousin, but I believe I did pretty well with her character._


End file.
